Diplomacy in Action!
by Hazuki Ninja
Summary: Zutara Week 09-Day 1: Crossover. Zuko, Katara, Toph, and the Kyoshi Warriors head for Ouran HS as diplomats for the 4 Nations after meeting Tamaki at sea. Gaang meets Host Club and chaos reigns. Zutara with bits of MorixToph, Kataang, MaixZuko. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody!! Yeah, I know I should be updating HinaV, as some of you have kindly reminded me, and I AM (sorta) working on it. But I've been traveling these past 2 weeks, and with Zutara Week 2009 starting today, I decided to whip some entries out of my ass. Thus, this little fiction was born. Isn't it cute? =3 Besides that, everyone's about a year older in this story. So Katara's 15, Zuko's 17, Toph's 13, and I don't really care about the rest of the Avatar Gaang. As for the Ouran cast, everyone's the same age. And yes, I know I said some MorixToph, and that's what I meant. I don't fucking care if there's a 5 year age difference! If there's KakaSaku, then by God, there can be MoriToph! ^^; sorry, little rant i needed to get out of the way. Alright, I think that's it! Please R&R and keep your eyes open for the next chapter! It should be out later today :D Enjoy!**

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_I hate, hate, HATE these stupid diplomacy missions. Why the heck did Zuko insist that I come? I'm needed at home! Repairing the village, restocking the supplies, acting as the go-between for the Southern Water Tribe and the other nations…being with Aang_…

Katara mentally winced when she thought of Aang. She was leading him on, and she had known it since the day after he kissed her at Zuko's coronation.

The young bender sighed as she mentally argued with herself._ I was high in a sense! High on the excitement, the thought of finally being free from Ozai, and all that stuff! _You're just making excuses. You didn't have to let him kiss you, and of course you had to go and make it even worse by kissing him BACK._ Again, it was a happy day! One of the best days in our lives! I wasn't going to go ruin it, now was I? _Okay, you make something of a point. But you still should've told him. _No! It was too soon…and besides, nothing else has really happened. He just holds my hand on occasion, tries to stand next to me whenever possible, is always trying to help me, kisses me on the cheek once in a while…_Katara groaned. When she accepted the facts as they were, she realized there was virtually no hope that Aang would get over her.

"You alright Katara?"

The 15 year old snapped her head up to look at Zuko. He had a bit of a frown on his face and his eyes, those beautiful golden eyes, like melting-

Katara slapped herself. Physically slapped herself, drawing odd glances from Zuko and the Kyoshi Warriors.

"Um, Katara? You okay over there?" Toph asked. She was in the back of the group, protecting them from possible attacks, but she could hear the slap loud and clear, along with feeling the movement of Katara's body. It told the Earthbender that no one had hit Katara, but instead Katara had actually hit herself. Thus the question.

The spoken-of girl blushed from embarrassment. _You idiot, keep it mental! Mentally slapping yourself is fine! Actually DOING it is a big, fat, freaking NO! _

"Uhh, Yeah!" She managed to squeak out. "I, um, think that I may have accidently, uhhh, drunk some cactus juice! Yep, some cactus juice."

This resulted in more stares. "Katara, we're in the middle of the woods. How in the world did you find a desert cactus here? Unless you brought some with you…" Suki took advantage of the momentary halt to adjust her headdress. "Or did somebody spike your water with it?"

This drew a sharp intake of breath on Zuko's part. "Could someone be trying to sabotage our mission? But we're at peace right now…" His voice dropped to a mumble as Katara thought wildly.

"I, uh, you, er, cou-, see-, um, Aang!" She stuttered, hands waving around.

"Aang what?" One of Kyoshi asked. Not a whole lot of people knew they were technically together, though Katara didn't think they really were, but everyone could tell how protective Aang was with Katara and how he had clearly marked her as _his girl. _So whenever she mentioned Aang, every male in the vicinity would take a quick glance around to make sure he wasn't there. Even if the girl was cute, she was NOT worth crossing the Avatar.

"Um, maybe Aang was playing a joke and decided to put a bit of cactus juice in my water?" With a quick shake of her head, Katara continued. "Not enough for full hallucinations, but just enough to give everyone a laugh." She plastered what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face. "So, um, I'm good and all that."

Silence ensued. Nobody moved until Toph spoke up and said, "Well, Twinkle-Toes might do something stupid like that. I thought he was starting to grow out of that stuff finally, but I guess not."

The tension eased up slightly at this. "Now you're sure you're okay? We can stop and rest for a bit if you need…" As Zuko shifted his gaze from Toph to Katara, concern once again flooded his eyes. They had traveled long and far, though not always together, but they were much closer than friends. For some reason though, their relationship could not be described as something like siblings, or at least not to Zuko. Katara…was different, this he knew from experience. To him, Mai was like a sibling. A beautiful, sometimes lovable, demanding, and occasionally annoying sibling, but she was a sister to him none the less. It would be a terrifying day when he finally dragged up the courage to tell her that.

The Waterbender forced another wan smile. "I'm perfect, thanks. We really should be moving on; Sokka said that we needed to reach the ocean by tonight if we want to avoid a typhoon that's heading our direction." Her eyes flicked past Zuko. "Besides, judging by the sun, it should be noon pretty soon, and we can stop for lunch then."

Zuko nodded. This was entirely logical. And it would delay a certain question that he really should have asked Katara before they left.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"WHAT?!"

Zuko unplugged his ears. Well, she hadn't hit him (yet) so he figured that this was going better than he could've expected. Maybe Katara would take this alright after all.

Poor, innocent Zu-Zu was so terribly wrong.

"You want me to pose as your FIANCÉ?! What type of idiotic idea is THAT?!?!" Katara's face was redder than Zuko's fiercest fireball as she jumped up from the log they were sitting on. He wasn't quite sure if it was from embarrassment, flattery, or anger. Perhaps all three, but he wasn't one of the gifted people who understood women. Instead, he just winced and attempted to put on a brave face. It failed. Instead, he looked like a cross between a man that had eaten something incredibly rotten and a growling Platypus Bear.

"Um…well you see, the man we came across on an ocean patrol saw a picture of us all – you, me, Toph, Aang, Sokka – and asked if we were," The trembling young Firelord gulped, "engaged. Before, uh, I could correct him, he swept on about the, er, wonders of love and didn't give me a chance to break in." Another Sour Milk/Platypus Bear smile. "I thought it would be a bad idea to insult a possible alliance, especially one with such high technology, so I just let him think that you're my fiancé. He of course insisted that you come along with the group."

Zuko had carefully monitored Mount Katara throughout his little explanation and had almost sighed with relief when she seemed to calm down. When her face abruptly started to flush a deep red again, Zuko hurriedly added, "Not that I didn't want you along in the first place! Your battle skills are wonderful, and I'm sure that you'd do great as a temporary diplomat, but I knew you had stuff going on back in the Northern Water Tribe! So I wasn't planning on asking until the guy on the boat we found – his name's Tamaki Suoh –pleaded that you join us on our trip. Um, yeah, so that's why I need you to be, I mean PRETEND to be, my fiancé."

Katara glared at him while mentally screaming/squealing. _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Fiancé! Zuko's freaking fiancé!!!! _Please stop squealing._ How could this be any better?!?! _It's merely a misunderstanding on the other party's side. It means nothing. _How can you even THINK that?! Look at the opportunity we have!! Foreign country. Engaged to Zuko. _Pretending to be engaged to Zuko. _Whatever. Don't you see?! _See what? That you're a complete pervert?_ Hey, we're the same person technically, so don't go throwing around insults. And is there a problem with being perverted?! _That's such a stupid question, I'm not even going to answer it. **Would you both shut up? We probably, you know, should maybe ANSWER him?! **_Oh. _Yeah. 

She sighed dramatically as she pushed some loose hair out of her face. "Well, you're probably right. It would be bad to upset possible allies, so I guess I'll go along with it." Katara made a face as she shifted her weight to one side. "This guy sounds like a jerk though. Cutting off everyone and all that."

Both Zuko's eyes and mind were wandering a bit as he stared at the curves directly in front of him, neatly framed by Katara's blue dress. "Umm…yeah…" He muttered softly. Then a look of realization crossed his face, and he shook his head a bit. "Wait, no, not really. He's just, er, enthusiastic." Zuko's eye twitched. "_Really_ enthusiastic."

They both groaned. "As in Bumi enthusiastic, Aang enthusiastic, or," Katara's eyes grew large, "Ty Lee enthusiastic?"

Zuko gave her a pitying look. "Ty Lee…but worse."

They both shivered with fear.

After their little panic attacks were finished, Zuko got off the log and swept off his pants. He had thought it might be a good idea to take Katara away from the rest of the party, just in case she whipped out some Waterbending on him. "We'd better be heading back to camp. Do you want to tell the others, or should I?"

A faint blush dusted Katara's cheeks. "Uhh, you can. I need to, um, feed the…the…Kyoshi Warriors? Yeah! They-they haven't had lunch yet, so I should go make them something to eat!" So, wringing her hands, tentatively smiling, Katara booked it out of there as fast as humanly possible.

With a heavy sigh, Zuko started making his way back to camp. He wasn't about to pressure his…_fiancé…_ into telling the group the news, but damn, it was going to be a little awkward. Especially since Toph had taken to teasing him and Katara of late about how cute they would look together. Yep, awkward for sure.


	2. Chapter 2

After explaining the whole situation (which caused more than a few raised eyebrows and extensive teasing), the group set out once more. Most of the day's journey was completed in silence, though the occasional argument and tormenting would occur. They did make it to the coastline by dark, where they then camped without much trouble. The boat arrived on schedule the next morning, and with the help of some Firebenders, Zuko, and Katara, the group made good time and eventually reached their destination right on time: the Nation of Japan. Again, everything went on as planned as they met their escorts, an over-excited little boy who called himself "Honey" and a very welcomed stoic man called "Mori." Mori and Toph hit off very well, Mori seemingly content to listen to Toph with the occasional feedback, and, surprisingly enough, vice versa. When asked about what they talked about Toph merely replied, "Nothing much really. Mainly fighting styles."

With all this good fortune though, everyone knew it couldn't last. Well, everyone _would've_ known if they had used their heads, which they obviously didn't.

The first example of why good luck can never last: Zuko in his current situation.

"Oh Zuko, _whatever_ did you do to get that scar?" Giggles. "Something bad?" Blushing. "Are you in…_a gang_?" Squeals. Oh his poor, poor ears.

"Ladies, Ladies, why do you abandon your Prince? I am just as bad as he is! Why, once I…"

As some of the girls turned to the dreaded demon known as Tamaki, Zuko managed to squirm out of the remaining chokeholds and jump off the plush, red couch. Scanning the room for the rest of the group, he immediately spotted Toph sitting on one of the couches, feet propped up on the coffee table in front of her, alternating between chatting with Mori and cramming cake down her throat. No need to worry about her.

The Kyoshi Warriors, easily spotted in their extravagant costumes, were laughing over Honey's antics, who turned out to be older than Zuko.

After giving the small teenager a confused glance, the Firebender shook his head and continued to look for Katara from the secluded little corner he had hidden in.

_Nope…not her…Katar-no, that girl's wearing a yellow dress…how hard was it to find one Waterbender in this stupid roo-there she is! Oh God, not those two…_

Zuko groaned. Those Hitachiin twins were pestering Katara…_again_. Didn't they know she was his fiancée? Or at least they were supposed to think that. He was actually very surprised Katara hadn't attacked them already, but maybe…

With a gulp, Zuko turned away. He wasn't going to think about it. _Not think about how maybe she LIKES the attention from them? They are pretty handsome you know, plus are dripping with money. And what do you have? Sure you're the Fire Lord, but you have a freaking scar the size of the Earth Kingdo! And the Royal Treasury has been pretty much drained for repairs. _

Zuko completely lost to his mental voice. All of it was so true. Depressed, he slouched over in his corner and sulked, something he had a lot of experience with.

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"So _Katara,_ why are you pretending to be engaged to that gloomy idiot?" The red-headed twins chorused.

The tortured teenager put her head in her hands. During their insistent questions, Katara had accidently let it slip, through a series of accidental remarks, that she and Zuko were faking their engagement.

"Tamaki made the mistake of believing us to be engaged, and rather than insult him, we decided to go along with it for our stay." She rushed out. There. Maybe now they would leave her alone.

But, this being the legendary Hitachiin Twins, of course they wouldn't leave her alone.

Smirking first at each other, then at the girl in front of them, Hikaru and Karou leaned in close. "Even if you're just playing pretend, you really would like to be engaged to him, _riiiiiight?_"

Of course, this simple statement caught Katara off guard, and she blushed deeply as she stuttered. "No! No of cour-well, maybe not engage-no! just pos-absolutely not." She mumbled, her voice squeaking at some points.

Hikaru gave Karou a knowing look. They both nodded. "Well, how about going out with the supreme _Fire Lord_?"

More blushing. More muttering. And then, she suddenly stopped and straightened up. "Ye-yes. I would like to be Zuko's girlfriend…but he already has one." Some sighing.

Karou stuck out his tongue. "Would he be mooning over you so obviously if he liked her much?"

The pretty Water Tribe girl jerked her head up, eyes full of hope. "Really?" She breathed.

The twins rolled their eyes. Another girl in love, how boring. But luckily, this looked like it could be a fun case.

"Yes, really." Karou answered while Hikaru shouted, "My Lord! Will our guests be joining us for the ball tonight?"

The Host Club girls squealed at the thought of the Host Club _plus _Zuko at the ball, and began to beg Tamaki to say yes.

"Beautiful blossoms of the spring, of course, of course! Would I dare deprive anyone of our grand ball? But your clothes! Did you bring any formal wear with you?" As hyper as a Jack Russell Terrier, the President switched from the swooning young ladies to the group of travelers. Before any of them could answer him though, Tamaki swept on. "Never mind, we shall help you pick out the most flattering clothes possible! You shall be the stars of our little gathering!"

As if on cue, Renge appeared on her podium, sipping tea. "And I will have the pleasure of helping this handsome devil prepare! He will want to look dashing for his fiancé, will he not?"

All eyes turned to Zuko. "Err, well-" Before he could even begin, he was cut off. It was becoming apparent to the Kyoshi Warriors, Toph, Zuko, and Katara that this was a bad habit that most of the club had.

"Of course Renge, please, help that lucky man! Honey, Mori, would you be as kind to helping the lovely Kyoshi Warriors and beautiful Toph chose their outfits for the event?" Mori nodded as he helped Toph up while Honey bounced around, happy as always. "Aahh, and the stunning Katara will have none other than the Hikaru and Karou helping her!"

Kyoya, hiding from the crowds of girls in his little space, noticed the evil look on the twins face as they rubbed their hands together. Fearing for the girl's safety, he called to Tamaki over the noise: "Father, perhaps we should have Fujioka-san go with them too. You can't be sure of your sons' good intentions with such an attractive lady."

An angry spark glinted in Tamaki's eyes. "Yes Mother, I believe you are right! Haruhi, please go with Katara-san and those devils!"

A small boy – or was it a girl? – stood up from her chair in the back of the room. With a large smile, they said, "I'd be glad too. I would really like to get to know you better Katara."

The spoken-of girl peered around one of the twins – she wasn't sure which was which – at the person in the back of the room. Before she could get a good look though, each of the twins had a firm grip on her arms and dragged her out of the room in a flash. Katara could faintly hear Haruhi shouting at the Host Club, "Don't worry Zuko-san, Tamaki-san, everyone, I'll make sure that she's okay!"

Then, without further ado, Katara was flung into the back of a very long contraption, somewhat like the tanks the Fire Nation used, except longer and much sleeker. By the time she had sat up, the twins were sitting on the seats across from her and the girl – Katara was sure Haruhi was a girl – was sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry, but what's going on?" She asked, dazed. The Waterbender was sure it was something about a ball, Zuko liking her, and clothes.

"Don't worry; it's usually like this in our Club. We're having a ball tonight, and apparently you, along with the rest of your group, have been invited. You also seem to have been given a free make-over!" Haruhi said with a grin. Katara hesitantly returned the grin. This country was sure crazy, but nobody was attacking her yet, so it couldn't be all bad.

"So…a new dress is what we're going to go buy?"

Katara heard matching snorts coming from the front of the…thing. "Buy? _Us?_ BUY a dress?" The pair burst out laughing.

An icy glare set firmly in place, Katara turned to Hikaru and Karou and spat out, "Yes, BUY a dress. That is normally what you do when you're rich! I doubt you two make your own clothes!"

Suddenly the two boys were right in front of her, sneering. "Of _course _we make our own clothes! We're _fashion designers_."

"We made the school uniforms!"

"We created the masterpiece that Laetitia Casta stunned the world with last month!"

"We are-"

"Famous for-"

"Our designs!"

The two girls were watched with amazement as the twins ranted back and forth. How they did it was a mystery to Katara and Haruhi, but Haruhi was at least used to it.

"So basically what we're saying is that we own thousands of dresses, shoes, accessories, and everything we need to make you look gorgeous." They finished off with a shrug of their shoulders.

Somehow that made Katara even more afraid than she had been before.

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Katara was moaning in a corner of a room almost as big as the Northern Water Tribe. They had been there for two hours and all they accomplished was…nothing. The two boys continually bickered over dress style, color, make-up, shoes, and everything else in between. The only one really doing anything productive was Haruhi, who was going through the dozens of closets of dresses they had, and occasionally bringing one over to Katara for her approval. The Waterbender like most of them, but none quite had that "thing" she was looking for. She wasn't quite sure what that "thing" was, but she figured she'd know it when she'd see it.

"Black! Sophistication! Elegance! It flatters everyone, even you!"

"It looks completely dreary for a ball! Especially with that neckline! Blue or purple are the only colors for her! Look how her dress brightens her eyes!"

"Yes, but she's been wearing blue the entire time! I saw her bags; it was all blue with one red outfit! We need something eye-catching that she doesn't normally wear!"

Haruhi sighed. Most of the time they just used subtle insults or threw stuff at each other when they fought. Unfortunately, when it came to fashion, they actually attempted to make sensible arguments…if you could call fighting over colors sensible.

She bit her lip. This girl obviously liked the man in charge of their group, and vice versa. Since Hikaru and Karou weren't going to be of any help, it was truly up to Haruhi to find a good outfit for Katara.

"White? Hmm…not actually a bad choice, it would definitely give her a look of innocence and beauty…it also goes wonderfully with her skin and hair…"

The lone girl of the Host Club shook her head. It was wonderful that they were finally getting along to some extent, and she hated to ruin it, but…

"Wouldn't that look too much like a wedding dress though? And I don't think that's what Katara really wants." She flashed a smile at the poor girl curled up in a corner.

The two brothers looked at each other before suddenly looming over Haruhi. "And what color do you think she should wear, Haruhi?" They smiled their wicked grins as she tapped her lip with her finger, looking thoughtful.

"Well, I first thought maybe a mix of dark and light green, but then I remember the other girls were all wearing those colors. So I thought maybe a dress of different shades of orange?" Haruhi used her hands to describe her envisioned dress. "It would be kind of loose and flowery almost, with each color separate but merging together eventually." She laughed a bit. I know I'm not doing a very good job at this, but-"

"Hmm, definitely sounds like a possibility, don't you agree Hikaru?"

"Yes, and I believe Mother-"

"A few months-"

"That's the one, with the-"

"Matching accessories and-"

"I remember. Get a maid-"

"Already on it."

Karou had whipped out his cellphone and was yelling to someone on the other end about his mother's workshop and things Katara couldn't keep up with. Her head was still spinning from the last conversation the Hitachiin twins had. "Is it always like this?" She mumbled, not intending to be heard.

With a kind smile and a sigh, Haruhi replied, "Pretty much."

Eventually, several maids and butlers brought a mannequin wearing a beautiful dress and several boxes ranging from one as big as Katara's fist to several bigger than a loaf of bread.

She gasped with awe when she got a closer look at the dress, and reached out to touch it.

"Nuh-uh!" The boys chanted while they grabbed her arms. "Not until you agree to let us do whatever we want to do to you! Even if it means cutting your hair!"

Katara gave them wild looks. Her hair…but this was for Zuko. She was his "fiancée", so he couldn't avoid her or anything, even if he wanted to. Thus she had to look at stunning as possible.

"Just…just don't cut off much, okay?"

Hikaru and Karou smirked at each other. Katara had the feeling that this was their signature look.

"Oh don't worry, we won't!"

And with that, the make-over began.


End file.
